we pass the mantle to the loved
by cities
Summary: Romans have never been good at expressing their feelings out loud. Wolves are worse at it. 25 things Jason and Lupa thought, but never said.
1. Chapter 1

**we pass the mantle to the loved**

**Written for Musafreen's Parental Unit Competition**

* * *

**1. Gift**

Jason Grace was a gift to Juno, but he may as well have been one to her.

**2. Old**

Lupa is as old as anything, but she's never seen a warrior quite like this.

**3. Maze**

Lupa is just a maze to him, something to beat, to unravel. He didn't care about anything else.

**4. Phase**

Young pups had their phases, but Jason Grace's were worse than most—it was times like these he'd try to run away.

**5. Love**

It's a silly notion, one Lupa's never believed in. It didn't matter, because Jason proved it existed.

**6. Young**

He's too young to begin the journey to camp. They almost always are. Now, though, is the first time she's ever cared.

**7. Dead**

He's been gone long enough, and maybe she has to accept that he is. But he's strong, and he may not be dead yet.

**8. Cry**

Wolves can't cry, but Lupa knows that if she could, right now she would.

**9. Song**

The lullaby isn't anything special. It's just a song, but it warms her heart. It reminds her of when he was little.

**10. Sun**

The sun rises, painting a pretty picture in the sky. The mood is peaceful, longing. Lupa is content to stay that way until he comes back.

* * *

**11. Rage**

It swirls inside of him, rage gnawing at his heart. He doesn't know why, but his family was gone.

**12. lost**

The house is big, and his sister isn't here to guide him. He is lost, emotionally more than anything else.

**13. Four**

He's four when Lupa first trains him. He wishes it happened more often.

**14. Fun**

Lupa never believed in fun, but boy, does he get in trouble for his pranks at camp.

**15. Abandon**

It feels wrong, being at the Greek camp. What would the camp say? What would Lupa say?

**16. Neutral**

For now, he has to act as an intermediary. Things could get ugly pretty quick. It feels wrong, though, to remain neutral when Clarrise kicks Bobby's ass.

**17. Gold**

He sees the imperial gold, and he realizes that Rome is his home. Not Greece, not anywhere belongs here—with the legions, and with Lupa.

**18. Human**

Lupa sure is pissed when Jason steals the Greek's cookies. He doesn't understand. It's only human.

**19. Pack**

Rome works as a team, a pack. He never understood that till now. Lupa would be proud.

* * *

**21. Pair**

Together, they are the perfect pair, a deadly weapon. Lupa can see that, and she know that with her, Jason will be happy. That's good enough for her.

**22. Party**

Meeting Bacchus really puts it into perspective. He's glad the party god wasn't the one to raise him.

**23. Once**

He used to be impenetrable, once. Now, he knows he can't lose her—she may as well have been his mother.

**24. Hero**

A Hero of Olympus, they call him. He knows it could never have been achieved without her guidance.

**25. Son**

Shes never felt this way before, not even when Romulus and Remus were under her care. He is just like a son to her. A weakness—not that she cared.

* * *

**_20. Worth_**

He doesn't know why she cares for him. He cares for her though, and that's what matters. Sitting on the empty hill, with the wind in his ears, he wonders if he ever proved his worth to her.


	2. Chapter 2

**1. Crush**.

She holds no regrets fighting Lycaon. The fact that Jason wasn't here to help his pack crushes her, though.

**2. Shield**.

The shield is the lifeline of a warrior. The shield intertwines, interchanges, until an impenetrable wall of steel encloses around you. It may shadow your heart, but you are safe.

**3. Hands**.

As a wolf, she's always had a disdain for hands. Hands are something to rely on, something to fight for you.

**4. Blue.**

Blue is the color of the sky, but it never reminded him of home.

**5. Stone**.

His heart is a stone when he comes home, his friends dead, his love shattered. He cries for the first time that night.

**6. Grace**.

She always knew he would be our saving grace, but she never suspected that it would be at this cost.

**7. Felt.**

Feeling the warm felt comforts him, and reminds him of her fur when he was young. He wishes he could go back, back when he had no pain.

**8. Grass.**

Grass is always greener on the other side. Lupa didn't think so. Percy Jackson lost. Jason Grace won.

**9. Bite.**

People always talk about bark being worse than bite. Jason doesn't think the fates have a bark.

**10. Smell.**

The smell of Den, the smell of home wafts into her. If only he could smell it too.

**11. Ruin**.

He is a wreck, a shell, a ruin. He can never return to his former self, no matter what she insists.

**12. Brave**.

All of us are, but very few of us show it. The Greek was more brave, but Jason won.

**13. Under**.

He's disappearing, falling under the waves of his pain.

**14. Spell**.

It takes a while for here to realize, but this spell may never end. It could go on as long as he lives.

**15. Howl.**

She howls her frustration to the sky.

**16. Hair**.

They say your hair goes grey with age. Jason had aged, but his hair had stayed the same. Maybe it was a metaphor.

**17. Warm**.

It feels warm.

**18. Sink**.

He sinks in even deeper. Irreparable damage has been done, now.

**19. Smile.**

"Smile," she tells him, "Smile."

**20. Pain**.

Its been bottled up for so long. The pain releases.

**21. Tomb.**

She lays him there, in his tomb. She wonders if he will get a heroes afterlife.

**22. Last**.

His last time, he had messed up. now, he could say he was sorry.

**23. Spring.**

Lupa knew that with spring came new life. It didn't matter, because he was gone, and he took a small piece of her heart with him.

**24. Kite.**

Jason struggles to remember much these days, but he does remember how the kites fly in the wind. They float up there, lonely, yet peaceful. Heists on the edge of the hill, and like that—lonely, yet peaceful.

**25. Shine**.

Through out the ages, they will shine as heroes, as mentors. Their relationship will disappear, but their memories will not. They will lay, lonely, yet peaceful—forgotten.


End file.
